ALSO Early Edition of Evening Report: Live Video of Pacific Media Centre’s Climate Change – media ethics and Pacific challenges debate – Live on Evening Report 5-7pm tonight (click here). This event features Dr Jan Sinclair (Massey University) who began reporting on climate change in 1987; and Doctoral candidate and Kiribati Independent editor Taberannang Korauaba who knows what it is like to see his homeland disappearing beneath the Pacific waves.

Analysis: We have a thought-provoking piece in from COHA’s Frederick B. Mills, who is a Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Philosophy at Bowie State University. He analyses how US President Barack Obama has declared “a national emergency with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela.” See: Obama’s Hard Turn to the Right in Hemispheric Policy

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I appreciate the effort put into presenting this evening’s report. In particular I found Paul’s thoughts on John Key, ignorant or obfuscatory, to be thought-provoking. It’s difficult for me to believe anybody, let alone Mr Key, who says that they don’t know about what the GCSB might be doing. Given how much information is now in the public domain from the Snowden revelations and subsequent reporting it seems hard to plausibly claim that you’re unaware of what our spies might be getting up to. As stated Key treads the line between either being ignorant or incompetent. Personally I don’t think this is an either/or proposition, he can be both.

Also of interest were the type of consequences this new information might have for New Zealand in the form of trade retaliations or diplomatic ostracization. Should such consequences arise, will the government try to blame Snowden and those who have collaborated with him to make this information public? I think they would try and use this convenient scapegoat and their familiar method of shooting the messenger. When that happens let’s not forget that they have merely brought this information to light, they aren’t the instigators of this debacle.

Interesting that the long term ‘drift ‘ economically of all this breach of international trust and its ramifications for this country …. is that increasingly we will be drawn into economic reliance of the TTPA and its European counterpart.

This potentially will create a final schism between world trading blocks, which , ultimately can spell disaster for the global economy. This is /will not be localized between New Zealand and its trading partners….

But will have as a serious consequence effects upon excluded nations whereby they will suffer by not having resources , and thereby also economic and social unrest on the home front.

It will be seen by those country’s that west Europe , – USA and England in particular – as London is recognized as the financial hub of the entire globe – were the instigators. For some this will mean a military response for resources , with the middle east holding much attraction with its oil reserves.

If you think for one minute these country’s will not rise up against their antagonists you are very badly mistaken.

I would say that we are in the early stages of the above process, …but as nations have poor track records of resolving disputes in a sane manner… that if tensions become too great , warfare will become inevitable.

Certainly the Europeans are under no illusions about the reality of bloody warfare on their own soil. However , I think it more realistic to assume it will be centered around Israel and the middle east.

All it would take would be a series of minor crashes or one large economic crash such as the GCC to do it. Then we are talking major problems if diplomatic relations are already under strain.

Soooooo…..if in fact we are cutting off our noses to spite our faces with this 5 eye spy network business….we better make damn sure we get some good trade going or desist from being such lapdogs for the USA.

I find that all too difficult considering the weak PM we have at the moment who seems to display little , if any backbone or sense of national sovereignty.